Explore the vendors of Galesburg’s farmers market

(Graphic by Michelle Dudley/TKS. All photos by Dan Perez/TKS)

The Galesburg Farmers Market takes place every Saturday morning from 8 a.m. to noon in the parking lot near the corner of East Simmons Street and Seminary Street and includes both local and other Illinois vendors. The market features baked goods, fruits, vegetables, flowers, plants, jewelry, crafts and more. The last market will take place on Oct. 21.

Pop of the Morning

Mitch Bowman sells a variety of popcorns at his stand, Pop of the Morning. Bowman’s oldest son went to Knox, and the business operates out of Dahinda, Ill., about 15 miles east of Galesburg. He sells a variety of flavors in different sizes such as kettle corn, caramel corn and caramel apple, but his favorite is the caramel cheese mix.

R Bags

Roberta Bachelder sells a wide range of recycled and repurposed products at her stand in the farmer’s market, which extends far beyond her table. The furniture she makes are all made from repurposed materials. Bachelder has been practicing a variety of different crafts such as sewing, woodworking and weaving her whole life. A self-proclaimed “child of the 60s,” she gives old items new life.

Mama Cat’s Kitchen

If you’re looking to satisfy your sweet tooth, look no further than Mama Cat’s Kitchen. Run by Lewis Engle, Cathy Hunt and Janet Engle out of Oneida, Ill., Mama Cat’s makes a wide variety of baked goods including cinnamon rolls (which sell out first!), fudge, cookies and pies. They even make their own apple butter. Don’t forget to check out their bread and rolls, too.

Maciejewski Farms

Maciejewski Farms, which is located in Galesburg on Academy Street, sells breads in three great flavors for fall: banana chocolate chip, pumpkin and zucchini. These breads come in two sizes: a small for $3 or a large for $5. Maciejewski also sells farm fresh eggs year round. Currently, the farm is developing an orchard, where they hope to have berries in two to three years.

Tina’s Botanicals

Tina Hope sells homemade botanical products using homegrown and local herbs at her shop, Tina’s Botanicals. Some of her favorite products that she sells are balms, salves and moisturizers. Her favorite salve, Earth-Aid, is made with plantains and comfrey and is recommended for bug bites and bee stings. A full line of products can be found at her site www.tinasbotanicals.com. Hope also sells energy bars, which have oatstraw, a common plant in Galesburg, as an ingredient.

Garden Spot Vegetable Farm

Garden Spot Vegetable Farm from Princeville, Ill. sells a wide range of vegetables including sweet corn, tomatoes, green beans, onions and more. While the farm prides itself on its vegetables, there are also plenty of fruits available, including dark purple grapes and juicy apples. Garden Spot is a family-run business; the owner’s son, Jason Buckley runs the stand at the farmers market most Saturdays.

Kraynak’s Honey Farm

If you want to support local business and the bees, Kraynak’s Honey Farm’s stand is the place to go. All of the honey sold at the stand is locally made in Foxtown, Ill., south of Oneida. Kraynak’s also sells Honey Stix, which are candy sticks in a variety of different flavors. A portion of the profits of the Honey Stix goes to saving the bees!

Prairie Brews Kombucha

Senior Sofia Tagkaloglou started making kombucha this summer after Patrick Prom ‘17 passed along his scoby (Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast) to her. She sells five flavors: peach, mixed berry, ginger, ginger-peach and ginger-mixed berry. She makes her kombucha, which takes between three to ten days to finish, in Q’s Cafe on Main Street. She also sells it there, and is hoping to sell in bulk at local stores such as Cornucopia on Seminary Street. Sixteen ounce bottles are $3 and 32 ounce bottles are $5.

Linda’s Salsa and Pie

Linda Putnam of Linda’s Salsas and Linda’s Pies made over 1,000 pies last summer, despite not being crazy about sweets herself. Her pies – which come in a variety of sizes and flavors such as apple, peach and blueberry – are all handmade. She also makes homemade salsa, jams and jellies ranging from sweet to spicy to both; just check out her jalapeno raspberry jam. She even makes her own tortilla chips to go with the salsas. Putnam operates her business out of Monmouth, Ill.

Amy’s Essential Oils

Amy Nees of Knoxville, Ill. has been distributing essential oils for the last four years. She says essential oils have different recipes that can help support different body systems and overall emotional wellbeing and wellness. She sells curated samples of the oils for $3 per roll-on, and they each last a long time. This way, buyers don’t have to commit to buying a full size without knowing what works for them. Nees provides a truly customizable, affordable luxury right at the market.

Erika Riley is a junior majoring in creative writing and minoring in journalism. During her sophomore year, she worked as a news editor, and during her freshman year, she worked as a layout editor. She is the winner of the 2017 Ida M. Tarbell Prize for Investigative Reporting and the recipient of First Place Front Page Layout from the Illinois Press Association in 2016. Twitter: @ej_riley